U.S. confirms bombing Islamic State militants

As the U.S. bombs Iraq to protects its personnel from the Islamic State and prevent an act of ''genocide,'' hundreds of ethnic Yazidis run for their share of ready-to-eat meals. Gavino Garay reports.

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Smoke rises over the desert near Arbil in northern Iraq, the aftermath of an attack by US aircraft on artillery controlled by Islamic State militants threatening to take the Kurdish capital and claim it for themselves.
..not far away, a mad dash as hundreds of ethnic Yazidis grab their share of a humanitarian aid drop from Iraqi forces in the Sinjar mountains.
The minority Yazidis have been forced to flee the militants, as they rampage through the desert, trying to carve out a new, fundamentalist state in northern Iraq.
But in the mountains, while the Yazidis may be safe - at least temporarily - there is no food or water.
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The aid drop came just hours after U.S. President Barack Obama authorized military airstrikes in Iraq in what the White House says was an operation designed to protect U.S. personnel, and prevent "a potential act of genocide."
SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JOSH EARNEST SAYING:
"The artillery position that was maintained by ISIL that was struck by the American military early this morning east coast time, was focused on targets that were defending Arbil. And that is why that military strike was authorized and that is why it occurred."
The President spent much of the morning on the phone, consulting with US officials, and leaders in the region.
He has insisted that this round of airstikes -- the first since the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq in 2011 -- was a targeted action and will not lead to a return of US boots on the ground.